Great Lakes: IRIN Weekly Round Up #18 15-22 July 1996

This is number 18 in a series of weekly reports from
IRIN on general developments in the Great Lakes region.
Sources for the information below include UN agencies,
NGOs, other international organisations and media reports.
IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian
community, but accepts no responsibility as to the
accuracy of the original sources.

Weekly Roundup of Main Events in the Great Lakes
region
15 - 22 July 1996

# UNHCR has accused the Governments of Burundi and
Rwanda of colluding in the forced expulsion of thousands
of Rwandan refugees from camps in northern Burundi.
The forced closure of Kibezi camp (estimated population
15,000) began on late Friday when the Burundi authorities
moved into the camp and began trucking refugees to
the Rwandan border. The camp was looted by local residents
on Saturday and refugee huts burned. As of late Sunday,
some 8,000 refugees are reported to be in a football
stadium in the vicinity of the camp. On Sunday, the
Army moved into a second camp, Ruvumu. Some 7,000 people
are reported to have fled into the hills, with about
8,000 refugees remaining in the camp. Both Kibezi and
Ruvumu camps have been cordoned off by the military.
The UN has been denied access to the two camps since
the operations began.

Reports from Butare in Rwanda are that the processing
of the refugees once they have crossed the border is
proceeding smoothly. Following registration by UNHCR,
returnees are provided with repatriation kits and transported
by UNHCR/IOM directly to their communes. As of Sunday
evening, some 5,400 returnees from Burundi had been
registered by UNHCR.

Following Tripartite meetings earlier in the year,
the Burundi Government had indicated that three out
of the four camps for Rwandan refugees in the north
would have to close by 30 June and that those not willing
to return to Rwanda would be relocated at the fourth
camp - Magara. Some transfers from the other three
camps had already taken place prior to the expulsions.
The Magara camp population currently stands at around
42,000. So far, no forced movements are reported from
Magara or the third camp Rukuramigabo in Kirundo (pop.
12,000). The total Rwandan refugee population in Burundi
before the expulsions was approximately 85,000.

# Burundi's Army has accused Hutu rebels of slaughtering
312 displaced Tutsis, many of whom were widows, orphans
and old people, at Bungendana camp in Burundi's central
Gitega region. Witnesses said that they counted 304
bodies on Sunday - one day after the massacre - and
that more than 100 more people had been injured. Thousands
of Tutsis protested the massacre in a demonstration
in the capital on Sunday. Burundi's Prime Minister
Antoine Nduwayo addressed the nation on state radio
and television late Sunday and called on the people
to remain calm and desist from acts of vengeance. A
mass funeral for the victims is planned for Tuesday
(July 23) in Bungendana.

The National Council for the Defence of Democracy
(CNDD) and its armed wing, the FDD, have denied responsibility
for the massacre saying that the accusation was part
of a stepped up propaganda campaign to discredit the
CNDD forces. In March the Burundi Army was accused
of killing more than 300 Hutus during military operations
in the Gitega region. Aid agencies estimate that at
least 1,000 civilians are being killed each month in
Burundi.

# Former Tanzania President, Julius Nyerere, is said
to have told western donors on Friday that regional
states will not send peacekeeping troops to Burundi
without a formal ceasefire. The statement came after
a closed door meeting in Dar es Salaam attended by
OAU Secretary General, Salim Ahmed Salim, US and EU
Special Envoys to Burundi and other senior diplomats
on the stalled Burundi peace process. No formal statement
was made following the meeting but diplomats said that
a ceasefire was discussed at length.

The security assistance plan, proposed last month
in Arusha, calls for the deployment of troops from
Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia and has been endorsed
by the OAU and backed by Western countries. The Burundi
Army and the main Hutu rebel groups, however, have
said they will forcibly oppose any such deployment
without their agreement and conditions being met. During
the week thousands of youths demonstrated in the streets
of Bujumbura, denouncing the plan as a foreign invasion.
One of the two main political parties, UPRONA has called
for a new head of state and a new government.

On Monday, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi expressed
doubts about the security assistance plan and ruled
out sending Kenyan troops to Burundi saying that extremists
were putting the plan in jeopardy. An official from
the OAU accused both sides on Friday of "pushing
for absolute power" at great cost to civilians.

# During the first ten days of July, 4,567 refugees
arrived in camps in Uvira in Eastern Zaire at a rate
of more than 450 a day. All but a hundred were from
Burundi. Some 50-100 Burundians have also continued
to arrive in Kigoma, Tanzania every day. A further
500 Burundian refugees were registered between 9 and
15 July in Cyangugu Prefecture, Rwanda, bringing the
total as of 15 July to 3,427. # A meeting planned
for Saturday between the foreign ministers of Zaire
and Rwanda to discuss the return home of Rwandan refugees
from Zaire was postponed "due to transport problems"
and is to be rescheduled for the coming week. Zairian
Foreign Minister Kititwa Tumansi had said on Thursday
that the Saturday technical meeting would prepare for
the meeting between the Prime Ministers of Rwanda and
Zaire in Kigali later this month. Kititwa, stressing
that the deadline for the voluntary repatriation of
Rwandan refugees from Zaire was prior to the elections
in 1997, said that Zaire would be obliged to resort
to force if it found evidence of bad faith on the part
of Rwanda or the international community.

# The Air Zaire Boeing 737 seized by the Rwandan
authorities in April continues to be stranded at the
Rwandan town of Kamembe. Zaire has said the plane had
been on a flight from Kinshasa to Bukavu via Goma and
was forced down by bad weather. The Rwandan authorities
have accused the plane of carrying weapons.

# In a report to be released shortly, the UN Special
Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Zaire,
Roberto Garreton will examine the responsibility of
the Zairian authorities in the events in North Kivu,
Zaire which have led to massive internal displacement
and refugee movements. Mr. Garreton recently visited
camps for Zairian refugees in Rwanda, but his request
to visit North Kivu went unanswered by the Zairian
authorities. In his last report to the Commission of
Human Rights, Mr. Garreton drew attention to the plight
of people of Rwandan origin who were born and raised
in Zaire but who are denied Zairian nationality. He
also pointed to the surge in anti-Rwandan feeling over
the past 30 years with its corollary of statelessness.

The overall situation in Masisi and Rutshuru, meanwhile,
remains relatively calm with some displaced families
returning to their home areas. In many areas homes
are reported to have been pillaged and livestock stolen
or slaughtered. The UN recently launched a special
appeal requesting US$ 863,000 for emergency assistance
for the victims of the violence in North Kivu.

# More than 120 people are reported to have been
killed in cordon and search operations and confrontations
with Interahamwe in the western border areas of Rwanda.
In a status report issued 15 July, the UN Human Rights
Field Operation in Rwanda (HRFOR) states that it had
received reports of over 60 people being killed in
the course of search operations carried out by the
RPA in the communes in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri Prefectures
in Rwanda. The affected communes included Ciciye commune
which was the scene of the single largest massacre
of genocide survivors on 27 June. According to reports,
up to 3,000 men were rounded up in Giciye commune in
Gisenyi and Nyamutera commune in Ruhengeri on 9 July.
Most were released the following day. The Rwandan Ministry
of Defence has stated that operations have been launched
in areas where unarmed civilians have been attacked.

Rwandan radio reported on Thursday that RPA troops
killed seven Hutu rebels and seized ammunition in a
security operation in Kigali's rural area - the scene
of at least 34 recent killings. The radio also reported
that two local government officials were assassinated
on Tuesday in Rutsiro village in Kibuye. An agricultural
official, his wife and two children were killed in
nearby Kivumu village.

# Belgium has said that it is ready to comply with
a request by the UN International Tribunal for the
extradition of Joseph Kanyabashi, a former mayor in
Rwanda's Ngoma district. Kanyabashi has been held in
a Belgian jail since the beginning of the year. Another
genocide suspect held in Switzerland has also been
indicted. A total of 20 suspects have been indicted
so far by the Tribunal.

# Food production in Rwanda in expected to rise by
15% this year, but almost 600,000 people will need
emergency food aid during the second half of the year.
The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission
which visited Rwanda 7-15 June notes an increase of
7% in the areas planted from the previous season but
that overall production remains well below the pre-crisis
level. The improvement, says the joint report, reflects
improved stability in the interior of Rwanda and resumption
of regular activities by a considerable number of returning
refugees. The Mission estimates the output of this
season (1996B) to be 181,000 metric tonnes of cereals
and pulses. Import requirements total 64,000 metric
tonnes, of which some 44,000 metric tonnes are required
as food aid.

# A report prepared by FAO with the United Nations
Population Fund for a World Food Summit in November
notes that Africa will need to boost food production
by 300% by the year 2050 to satisfy growing population
needs. The report also notes that sharing the world's
food more fairly would probably eliminate most cases
of undernourishment. # Donor nations have pledged
some US$ 1.2 billion to Tanzania for 1997, the World
Bank announced after a Consultative Group meeting in
Paris Thursday and Friday this week. The World Bank
statement said that donors were expected to hand out
about US$ 560 million in 1997. Donors froze balance
of payment support to Tanzania in November 1994 after
the World Bank uncovered an import tax exemption scandal
costing the treasury around US$ 70 million per year.

# Most of the 2,000 Sudanese refugees who fled during
the attack by Christian fundamentalist rebels on Acholi
Pii camp in northern Uganda have returned to the camp,
but have requested a transfer to a safer location.
Latest reports are that the death toll in the attack
on 12 and 13 July has risen to over 150. The UN Secretary-General
issued a statement condemning what he called "wanton
acts of murder" and urged the Uganda Government
to reinforce measures to ensure the safety and protection
of the Sudanese refugees in the area. Amnesty International
condemned the massacre on Thursday and said that the
recent massacre brought the number of Ugandan civilians
and refugees killed in deliberate attacks by the rebel
groups, the Lord's Resistance Army and West Nile Bank
Front, to more than 300 since Match 1996.

Following a recent four day state visit to Kenya,
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said that Uganda
and Kenya are to expel each other's political dissidents.
One individual who may be affected in Kenya is the
Lord's Resistance Army spokesman, Dr James Obita.
[ENDS]

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